Temper D Interview

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TEMPER D INTERVIEW

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DNBforum had a chat with one of England's sickest up-and-coming Drum & Bass artists, Temper D. With releases and forthcoming releases on labels such as Renegade Hardware, Leet Recordings and Cell, things are certainly looking good for the 23 year old from Woking, England.
 
PERSONAL

1. How old are you?

23

2. Where are you from?

Guildford, well Woking to be precise.

3. Do you think your location has affected your success in Drum & Bass?

Erm..well my location now is Newcastle Upon Tyne, but i'm here cos its cheap and i can get by doing shitty jobs that i can leave if something comes up, so even if i was somewhere with more DnB i probably wouldn't have as much time to give to music..swings and roundabouts i reckon.

4. What is your first name?

Dave

5. Where did the name Temper D come from?

I use to have a bit of a temper when i was a teenager, and D is for Dave i guess..Bit shit that isn't it! hehe.

6. How long have you been producing Drum & Bass?

I started working with Exile about 2 years ago, but I don't have the technical ability to write tunes on my own so its always a partnership..K-Fire and I have been doing stuff in the studio together for just over a year now.

7. Do you DJ, and how long have you been mixing for?

Yeah DJ'ings my main thing, i love it more than anything...about 5 years now.

8. What are your Drum & Bass influences?

For sheer quality of production i don't think Ram have ever released a bad record, so the Trilogy and Moving Fusion have always been favourites..Everything before No Reality was wicked as well..they just seem to have the concept of using as few sounds as possible but to maximum impact locked down..I'd love to be able to make stuff that good one day. The other obvious one is Bad Company, and Fresh on his own, but recently I've been loving stuff coming from D-Kay, MIST, Militia, Sketch and Code, Concord Dawn, Pendulum, Counterstrike...loads of people to be honest.

9. Do you have any other musical interests?

I like all sorts of music but the other genre that really moves me is techno..sometimes i've gone out raving to Richie Hawtin or Jeff Mills and just come back thinking "there's no other form of music capable of that kind of effect on people"...its so primal what a basic progression of sounds can do to you..I think DnB still has a lot to learn from Techno..there still hasn't been many tunes which really take whats amazing about progressiveness and applied it to DnB..people seem to think that if there's no real choppy breaks and you have a basic 2 step that its techno influenced but i think you have to understand another genre to really apply its principles...Sorry, rant over!

10. How did you become involved in the Drum & Bass scene?

I used to borrow a friend of mine's old rave tapes when i was at school, all sorts of stuff...Old Fusion tapes of LTJ bukem, Hardcore tapes from Dreamscape and stuff...then someone left the Platinum Breakz album at my house and its all i listened to for about a month..I was blown away and did everything i could to find out more about that type of music. Then in about 97 some of us went down to Movement at Bar Rumba to see Grooverider..and that was it basically!

11. What did you do before Drum & Bass?

Went to school and played a lot of sport!

12. What is the Drum & Bass scene like in your area?

Its ok, there's one monthly night called Turbulence run by the residents Phobia and Piper which is good...apart from that we run a weekly bar night which is cool, and once every term (Newcastle's a very student populated city) we run a fairly big event called Curves and try and get up a headliner..last one was Twisted Individual and Zen, and the next one is Dylan and Tech Itch..shit thats gonna be dark!

13. 2003 looks to be a good year for Drum & Bass, where do you see it heading?

Its heading all over the shop really, i don't think its future is in any doubt at all, its looking really strong. Musically there seems to be alot of people disillusioned with the new jump up sound we're hearing a lot of..but I like it as much as any style, same as everything really, just in moderation!..Personally I'd like to see a more varied DJ line-up at some of the bigger raves. There's a few nights pushing more leftfield styles but it'd be nice to see some of that leftfield stuff make it onto more line-ups and not just be a sideline...I'm still much more a Renegade Hardware than Inperspective man buit it would be good to mix it up a bit i think..

14. How did you hook up with K-Fire?

Tim's been a good mate of mine for ages...we play in the same band called Keiretsu, 10 piece live DnB and breakbeat, formed while we were all mates at Uni...He sent me a cd of his first tune last summer and we agreed to get in the studio together and see if we could brush it up to release standard...It didn't quite get there that time but we worked on a few more and eventually came out with a sound we're happy with.

15. Do you have a web site?

Our whole crew has a website that covers everything we do, the band, Steve's Psytrance, Rich's (Isotone) DnB, Jon's Breaks, and the stuff K-Fire and i do..its a pretty varied group we've got on the go!

www.dartrecordings.co.uk

16. What are your favourite Drum & Bass web sites?

DnBScene, Dogsonacid, Gain recordings, and of course DNBforum!

17. What are your favourite non-Drum & Bass web sites?

Erm....hotmail.

-CONTINUES BELOW-
 
DJ/PRODUCER

1. Hardware or software?

Software...but if we've spent all day trying to find a synth sound and come up with fuck all..then we borrow Steve's emu.

2. What hardware/software (use as applicable) do you use to produce?

Logic mainly, Battery for drums, ES2 for synths, Absynth for pads..bits and bobs like frohmage, kontakt...as i say though, Tim's the man with all the skills!

3. CD/MP3 or vinyl?

Vinyl, CD if we've made something i have to play out.

4. Can you describe your sound?

High energy.

5. What projects are you currently working on?

We're working on a couple of remixes for the Tribe label at the moment, plus a couple of others.

6. What future projects are in the pipe line?

The band have a new DnB tune called Pinch Assault (clever huh?) which is begging for a TD and KF dancefloor makeover..really want to get started on that one...

7. Do you plan to tour soon? If so, where?

Hehe, this one's aimed at the bigger artists i guess! I've got a few things coming up, i'm trying to sort out the dates for a short tour of a few cities in Germany, apart from that its mainly heads down in the studio and DJing whenever i can. The band has got a really busy summer coming up so thats gonna take a lot of time up..check the website for dates!

8. Are you working on any other genres other than Drum & Bass?

Personally I don't at the moment..its difficult to find the time in the studio, but Tim dabbles in the odd bit of funk, and the band makes all sorts of stuff, breaks tempo a lot of the time. I'm gonna try and make some techno with my housemate soon though when we sort out some monitors...

9. Are there any Drum & Bass artists you would like to work with?

There's loads of artists that we'd love to watch while they're working so we could learn from them..if i worked with any established artist i didn't know though I think I'd get laughed at for how little i knew!

10. Is there a certain choon you would like to remix?

Anything by Exile..just having access to those sorts of sounds would be a lot of fun.

11. Are there any non-Drum & Bass artists you would like to work with?

I've always said Shaggy would make a decent jungle MC...he's be a laugh in the studio i'm sure.

12. What Drum & Bass choons are currently at the front of your record box?
  • Sketch and Code - sucker
  • High Contrast - basement track
  • Rawthang - epilogue vip
  • Counterstrike - candy flip
  • Pendulum - vault
  • Temper D and K-Fire - project mayhem (but its on a cd)
13. How did it feel when you first heard someone drop one of your choons at a club?

There's nothing like it, seeing people catching a vibe to something I've helped create is the reason i got involved.

14. Do you have an favourite "all time" choon?

Not sure about all time favourite, but certain tunes still do it for me, Dred Bass, Night Flight and Quest, Can't Punish Me...if i had to pick a tune i can't fault though i'd have to say the nine.

15. Turntables.. Technics or Vestax?

Technics all day long.

16. MCs.. yes, no, or depends?

I'd much rather have an mc than no mc..its a party at the end of the day..i just like them to keep an eye on what the DJ's doing and know whats going on.

17. Dubplates.. 10 or 12 inch?

CD

18. Computer format.. PC, MAC, or both?

We use a Mac, but it doesn't belong to us.

19. Bootlegs.. yes, no, or depends?

Yeah why not, as long as they're not half arsed.

-CONTINUES BELOW-
 
OFF TOPIC

1. What is your favourite colour?

Dark Blue.

2. If you could move from Woking, where would you move to?

New Zealand

3. Do you drive, and what do you drive?

Yes, Nissan Bluebird! hehe, i wish i'd said no now.

4. What is your favourite film?

White men can't jump.

CLOSE

1. Any shouts or final words?

Hi mum.

-END OF INTERVIEW-
 
Re: Temper D

I would just like to thank Dave for taking the time out for the interview - Bigups from the DNBforum massive :slayer:
 
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